1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to headrests for vehicle seats, and more particularly, to a foldable headrest assembly that allows for compact storage of vehicle seats.
2. Description of the Related Art
Automobile consumers are increasingly demanding multi-purpose vehicles that can be modified to transport either people or cargo. For example, a pickup truck is useful for transporting cargo, but it is inadequate transportation for a modest sized family. Conversely, a mid-sized sedan provides sufficient seating for a typical family, but this same sedan lacks utility when the owner needs to transport a large object, such as furniture. Foldable or removable seats solve these problems by providing the option for changing seat space into cargo space and vice-versa. The foldable seats fold into space saving configurations such that the vehicle may transport cargo.
Headrests situated on an upper portion of the seats provide support for an occupant's head and may provide comfort and offer safety protection from accident and crash related injuries, e.g., whiplash. However, the headrest introduces a problem in a vehicle with foldable seats. Ideally, a seat occupies a minimal volume once folded into a storage position. However, the headrest is an extension of the seat, thereby adding to the volume occupied by a folded seat and subtracting from the available cargo space in a vehicle.
For this reason, some prior art folding seats lacked headrests. However, a seat lacking a headrest is undesirable due to the safety and ergonomic benefits provided by the headrest. Alternatively, some folding seat designs required the complete removal of the seat from the vehicle to maximize cargo space. However, the procedure for removing and reattaching the seat is awkward and complicated. Removal can also be impractical when there is not a convenient place to store the removed seat. In yet another alternative, the foldable seats have removable headrests, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,203,104. However, a detached headrest poses additional problems with storage of the headrest when the seat is in a folded or storage position. Additionally, the headrest may be lost or damaged during the removal and storage.
An improvement in the headrest design for foldable seats includes foldable headrests that allow the headrest to fold from an upright position to a forwardly folded position. In the forwardly folded position the foldable headrest is positioned against the upper portion of the seat. One such headrest is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,942. However, the previous foldable headrests included rather complicated locking mechanisms for moving the foldable headrest between the forwardly folded securing the headrest into a position. In addition, the previous foldable headrests are not securely locked in the event of a collision, accident, or sudden stop of the vehicle. As a result, the foldable headrests of the prior art may undesirably unlock and move from the upright position to the forwardly folded position during such an event.